Stone Soup Magazine
— A hermit crab named Kermit faces school bullies, challenges them to an exoball game, and wins by riding on opponents' shells, transforming his social status.
— After her mother dies in childbirth, a girl defies orders to stay out of the forest and discovers she's inherited magical powers to protect it from shadow creatures.
— A child observes a lime tree through the seasons, noting its winter bareness, spring birdsong, summer growth, and autumn abundance of leaves.
— A young elf girl discovers she can communicate with dragons and learns the kingdom's 'dragon attacks' are actually humans attacking dragons, becoming the prophesied Dragon Charmer.
— Swallows move through a day from dawn to twilight, their appearance transforming with the changing light from silver firs to moonlit wings.
— A meditation on weightlessness and tranquility builds through philosophical comparisons until the speaker climbs a mountain to grasp the sun and fall.